Translation, the German text being authoritative
Articles of Association of the Societas Iuris Publici Europaei e.V. (SIPE)
last amended on 24 June 2023
Article 1
Name, Seat, Accounting Year
(I) The name of the Society is Societas Iuris Publici Europaei [SIPE]. The Society is registered with the Amtsgericht Göttingen under number VR 2714.
II) The Society has its seat in Göttingen.
(III) The Society’s accounting year is the calendar year.
(IV) The Society’s working and debating languages are German, English and French. The language of the place of congress may be used as a debating language too, if simultaneous translation into one of the aforementioned languages is guaranteed.
Article 2
Purpose of the Society
(I) The Society pursues exclusively and directly non-profit- making goals in the sense of the section „Steuerbegünstigte Zwecke“ of the German Abgabenordnung (i.e. Law on Levies).
(II) The purpose of the Society is to promote science and research. It acts impartially and does not primarily pursue economic goals. The resources of the Society may be used only in conformity with the present Statute.
(III) The purpose of the Society according to this Statute shall be pursued particularly through the realization of scientific congresses.
(IV) The task of the Society is to discuss and to clarify questions of public law including its impact on the legal system as a whole.
(V) The members are not entitled to receive any payments from the resources of the Society. Payments may not be made to any person for purposes inconsistent with the goals of the Society; no disproportionate payments may be made.
Article 3
Membership
(I) Any person engaged in scholarship relating to public law may become a member of the Society. Such scholarship must be proved, especially by outstanding publications.
(II) The procedure for admission to the Society shall be opened upon the motion of at least three of its members or by its Honorary President. The motion, supplemented by the curriculum vitae and by the bibliography of the nominee, must be accompanied by a short statement of reasons.
(III) If the Executive Committee is of the opinion that the conditions for membership are fulfilled, it decides upon the admittance of the nominee to the Society. The decision must be notified to the members in a circular. It takes effect unless at least five members oppose the admittance within one month; if so, the General Meeting shall decide upon the admittance. Regardless of this, the Executive Committee may submit an application for membership to the General Committee anytime.
(IV) Membership ends
1. With the death of a member;
2. With the withdrawal of a member;
3. With expulsion of a member from the Society.
A withdrawal requires a written declaration to any member of the Executive Committee. It takes effect at the end of a calendar year, provided that a cancellation period of three months has been respected.
(V) The Executive Committee may decide to expel a member from the Society,
1. If the member remains in default with his or her membership dues in spite of having been admonished twice; the expulsion requires a written notice addressed to the member;
2. If the member has gravely violated the interests of the Society. The member shall be heard prior to the decision.
Article 4
Executive Committee
(I) The Executive Committee shall consist of at least five and at most seven members. The composition of the Executive Committee shall have regard to a regional balance.
(II) The Executive Committee shall be elected by the General Meeting for a period of four years. Its term of office expires at the end of a calendar year. If a new member has been elected to the Executive Committee within the term of office of the latter, then his or her tenure ceases simultaneously with that of the other members of the Executive Committee. Every member of the Executive Committee may be re-elected only once. If for some compelling reason, the election of the new Executive Committee cannot take place in due time, it has to be scheduled immediately after the obstacle has vanished. A compelling reason must be assumed in particular when a congress that should have been connected to a General Assembly must be postponed and the General Assembly cannot be held online or in hybrid mode (Art. 5 (V)). Until the General Assembly is held, the old Executive Committee remains in charge of managing the Society.
(IIa) The Executive Committee shall adopt its own rules of procedure. It takes its decisions by a majority of its members. In the event of tie votes, the vote of the President is decisive. Decisions pursuant to Art. 3 (III) sentence 1 require a unanimous vote, decisions pursuant according to Art. 3 (V) a majority of two thirds of the members of the Executive Committee present and voting.
Article 4a
President and Secretary-General
(I) The General Meeting elects one member of the Executive Committee as President.
(II) A member of the Executive Committee shall be elected as General Secretary by the General Meeting upon a proposal by the President.
(III) The President and the Secretary-General shall represent the Society and each of them shall be able to act for it independently.
(IV) If the post of President or of Secretary-General becomes vacant between two General Meetings or if one of them becomes unable to perform his or her duties for a compelling reason, the Executive Committee shall decide which member of the committee will perform the tasks concerned ad interim until the next General Meeting takes place.
(V) In order to prepare a congress, the Executive Committee may co-opt a member resident at the place of congress. This member shall have no right to vote in the Executive Committee.
(VI) A member of the Executive Committee who has rendered, in particular in his or her capacity as President, outstanding services to the Society can be appointed Honorary President by decision of the General Meeting. The General Meeting may also award other honorary titles.
Article 5
General Meeting
(I) The Society shall hold a General Meeting, which should be linked to a congress, at least once every two years. The agenda of the General Meeting, the subjects of the congress and the place of the gathering shall be fixed by the Executive Committee. The members should be notified of the date of the Congress and the General Meeting at latest three months in advance. The invitation to the General Meeting shall be communicated at least one month in advance along with the agenda. Motions for amendment of the agenda filed after this time or during the General Meeting shall be decided upon by the General Meeting.
(II) On presentation of a reasoned written demand by at least one fifth of the members, the Executive Committee shall call a General Meeting.
(III) Any General Meeting that has duly been convoked is competent to take decisions independent of the number of members present.
(IV) The Executive Committee, the President and the Secretary-General shall be elected by secret ballot. Other decisions are taken by open ballot unless one third of the members present in the General Meeting request a secret ballot. Minutes of the decisions of the General Meeting must be taken and signed by the President or the Secretary-General.
(V) The Executive Committee may initiate a member‘s decision by letter if it cannot be put on hold until the next General Meeting or if one tenth of the members demand it by written declaration. A decision by letter requires the consent of the majority of the Society’s members.
(VI) For an important reason, especially if a General Meeting cannot be tied to a Congress, the Executive Committee may decide to hold the General Meeting in hybrid mode or, if required, completely in digital mode as a video call on condition that that the technical requirements stemming from the rules enshrined in Articles IV (1) and (2) be met.
Article 6
Membership Fee
(I) The members shall be charged annual membership dues. Fees charged from participants of a congress and intended to cover expenses related to the congress remain unaffected by this.
(II) The annual membership fee shall be fixed by the General Meeting. For special reasons, the Executive Committee may reduce the fee in individual cases.
Article 7
Amendment of the Statute
Amendments of this Statute must be adopted by a two-thirds majority in the General Meeting. Article 5 paragraph 5 applies mutatis mutandis.
Article 8
Dissolution of the Society and Beneficiary
In the case of dissolution of the Society or of abolition of associated tax privileges, its property shall accrue to the
Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung
Jean-Paul-Str. 12
53173 Bonn,
which will be obliged to devote it exclusively for the promotion of science and research.